Welcome to the best KC Chiefs site on the internet. You can view any post as a visitor, but you are required to register before you can post. Click the register link above, it only takes 30 seconds to start chatting with Chiefs fans from all over the world! Enjoy your stay!

Whitlock keeps it real

0

Whitlock's take on the events from Fox Sports.

-----------------------------------------

You gotta be f---ing kidding me.

In a society that increasingly supports caged human ****fighting ó aka MMA ó has a proud history with boxing, cheers lustily whenever fights break out inside a hockey rink and builds Roman Empire-stylized coliseums for football games, a 320-pound, sweet-talking lineman has somehow convinced a segment of America that Chiefs fans are the sick and disgusting bad guys.
You gotta be f---ing kidding me.

You damn straight a small percentage of Chiefs fans cheered loudly when two overgrown Ravens knocked Matt Cassel smooth the hell out. Did we not cheer when Mike Tyson curb-stomped Michael Spinks? Google the knockout work that made Anderson Silva the MMAís most beloved star and tell me if you hear respectful silence or wild, joyful hysteria?

We love violence and Eric Winstonís hypocritical *** is wealthy because heís relatively adept at inflicting it. The only thing all that unusual about the smattering of cheers that greeted Casselís glazed-eyed trip to the turf is that his hometown fans gave life to the noise. And for that, you can blame Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, his boss, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, and the escalating cost of being a sports fan in the era of shopping mall-amusement park stadiums.

Sickening? A smattering of cheers for an injured $66 million quarterback with a rating of 66.2 and a league-leading 14 turnovers?

No. No. Whatís sickening is how easily Winston, Kansas Cityís right tackle, deflected the national media from the real story. One of the most passionate fan bases in sports ó Kansas City Chiefs fans ó has been abused so thoroughly the last eight to 10 years that it is turning unruly. What happened Sunday inside Arrowhead Stadium is a result of the Hunt familyís neglect of their fan base. This has been brewing since 1998, since Marty Schottenheimer courageously and justifiably realized he should move on after 10 years in Kansas City. From 1989 to 1998, Schottenheimer and his front-office partner Carl Peterson transformed Arrowhead Stadium from an empty parking lot into one of the coolest, most electric places on earth eight fall Sundays a year. Football Sundays in Kansas City became mini-holidays. The whole town wore red starting on Fridays. Tailgating at Arrowhead Stadium before games was Kansas Cityís No. 1 social activity.

Iíve watched NFL games at every venue. Nothing compared to Arrowhead Stadium during the Schottenheimer era. Nothing. The Chiefs never advanced to the Super Bowl, but Kansas City was the NFLís ground zero. The players, coaches and executives were treated like royalty.

The players, coaches, executives and ownership got spoiled. They didnít have to win it all to be treated as if they had. The Chiefs havenít won a playoff game since 1993. Thatís right. The Chiefs havenít won a playoff game in two decades. But the stadium was filled, the parking lot packed and Chiefs jerseys hung in seemingly every Kansas City closet so Lamar Hunt, Kansas Cityís Dallas-based owner, allowed Carl Peterson to hang around 10 years after Schottenheimer left, a good five years after it was painfully obvious Petersonís previous success was a result of Schottenheimerís brilliance. Most Chiefs fans concluded Hunt wouldíve never allowed Peterson to linger for a decade if Hunt lived in Kansas City and felt the pain of each disappointing season as personally as Kansas City residents. Kansas Citians attached their identity to their professional football team. Joe Montana, Marcus Allen and Derrick Thomas made the typical, insecure Kansas Citian feel big time.
The stench of Petersonís last 10 years and Lamar Huntís loyalty to Peterson are fueling Chiefs fans lack of patience with their successors, Scott Pioli and Clark Hunt. The situation is further exacerbated by KCís newly renovated stadium and the elevated cost associated with it. Chiefs fans are paying $27 to park, $200 for a club-level seat, $10 for beer and are watching teams with no reasonable shot at postseason success.
For the most part in todayís NFL, no quarterback equals no shot.

Lamar Hunt and Carl Peterson could never pick a quarterback. In 20 years, they never drafted one in the first round. They preferred to sign someone elseís veteran. Given a choice in the 1990s between benching an aloof, inconsistent and expensive Elvis Grbac and going with locker-room/fan favorite Rich Gannon, Hunt and Peterson let Gannon escape to Oakland, where he won a league MVP award, made four Pro Bowls and one Super Bowl appearance. Grbac eventually bounced to Baltimore and quit football. No one, besides Trent Dilfer, remembers Elvis Grbac.

Scott Pioliís first major personnel decision in Kansas City was giving Matt Cassel a franchise-quarterback contract despite his highly suspicious resume. Cassel never played at USC. He played one season at New England. Cassel is Pioliís original sin, the mistake that has haunted his four years in Kansas City. Pioli, the Bill Belichick disciple, saw in Cassel the second coming of Tom Brady. Pioli arrogantly and foolishly thought heíd discovered Brady in a bottle twice. Ha.

This year Cassel has been the worst starting quarterback in football. Heís a turnover machine. He clearly lacks confidence. His arm strength is atrocious. His ball floats up before it moves ahead. He needs to be benched. Pioli wonít allow it.

Before Sundayís game, a group of working-class Chiefs fans pooled their money to fly a banner over Arrowhead Stadium demanding that Hunt fire Pioli and bench Cassel. These people love their football team. Clark Hunt lives in Dallas. The fans are spending their money to get the attention of their absentee owner. Theyíre afraid that Pioli-Hunt is going to be a replica of Peterson-Hunt. Their fears are justified. Pioli is a poor manís Peterson. Pioli is an embarrassingly insecure version of Peterson, a man with a bloated ego. Pioli masks his insecurity with a false bravado, a dictatorís management approach and a constant desire to manipulate the media into believing he was the brains behind the Patriots dynasty.

Chiefs fans arenít having it. They want a real quarterback. They want the Cassel charade to end. Pioliís stubbornness forced a handful of Chiefs fans to spontaneously thank the Ravens for momentarily ending their Matt Cassel nightmare. I think America will survive.
Itís easy for the national media to sit on their couches, inside their television studios or on their free, comfy press-box seats and preach polite decency to the working-class folks paying to watch their hijacked football team.

I wonít do it. I was inside Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday as a Chiefs fan. Iím not the type to boo or cheer. But I want Pioli fired. Eric Winston, too.

My question is why is KC in the hot seat when some fans possibly cheered (I believe we were cheering for Quinn entering the game) for our horrible QB to be knocked out of the game, when Jaguar fans killed a Bears fan? I have heard very little if anything about this on ESPN or from anyone else.

My question is why is KC in the hot seat when some fans possibly cheered (I believe we were cheering for Quinn entering the game) for our horrible QB to be knocked out of the game, when Jaguar fans killed a Bears fan? I have heard very little if anything about this on ESPN or from anyone else.

Pretty sad isn't it.

Seems they don't want to cause a panic of safety at their games when they can make a story bigger than it is as damage control.

My question is why is KC in the hot seat when some fans possibly cheered (I believe we were cheering for Quinn entering the game) for our horrible QB to be knocked out of the game, when Jaguar fans killed a Bears fan? I have heard very little if anything about this on ESPN or from anyone else.

My question is why is KC in the hot seat when some fans possibly cheered (I believe we were cheering for Quinn entering the game) for our horrible QB to be knocked out of the game, when Jaguar fans killed a Bears fan? I have heard very little if anything about this on ESPN or from anyone else.

Why are KC fans on the hotseat? Booing players at charity events, flying banners over the stadium, leaving games in the 3rd quarter, booing players at home. Should they be talking about what great fans KC has?

Originally Posted by IslandKing77

That kinda thing doesn't sicken Eric Winston.

At least someone is defending this team.

The only reason a beer sweats around Canada is because he's decided it will be the next beer he drinks.

Why are KC fans on the hotseat? Booing players at charity events, flying banners over the stadium, leaving games in the 3rd quarter, booing players at home. Should they be talking about what great fans KC has?

At least someone is defending this team.

If he defended the QB on the field half as hard we wouldn't be having this conversation.

I've read many statements to this effect and it does seem likely, but do we actually KNOW that this is true? Charging Pioli with sacrificing the best interests of the team to his own ego is a big charge to make and IMO not one that should be made lightly. Is there any actual evidence for this???

Any other team would have pulled Cassel out of the game last Sunday with the way he has been struggling thus far this season -- especially after that fumble at the goal line. It's simply exercising the better part of valor.

There's just no way that Pioli and Crennel can not see that a change might be needed & Quinn should have gotten some reps with the 1st team during practice going into last Sunday, but it was documented at kansascity.com that he didn't. Why? Are they afraid to send a message to Cassel "hey, get your act together or else"? Can't they see that Cassel has gotten progressively worse each week & that the other players on the team don't believe in him?

My point is, Pioli said there would be QB competition, and yet, we still are seeing no such thing. Even though the situation has demanded it after 4 games into the season and Cassel clearly being the worst starting QB in the NFL. The simple fact that Quinn hasn't been allowed to relieve Cassel and get playing time in any of the games this year, except for last Sunday when Cassel got hurt is proof enough for me.

I'll bet the farm that if Cassel had not got hurt, he'd still be the starter next Sunday, in spite of losing to the Ravens. You saw for yourself that Quinn nearly pulled out a victory. It never should have came down to Cassel getting hurt for Quinn to be in there. Everybody and their brother could see that it was time to make a change after that fumble at the goal line.

Originally Posted by ctchiefsfan

Just for a moment, let's say that Cassel does give us the best chance of winning any given game. WHO CARES???!!!

What does he give us a chance of winning?

In my mind all he has a chance of winning for us is a chance at parity and mediocrity.

Does anybody really think he gives us any chance of winning a playoff game more to the point a Superbowl?

I think not.

So the "winning" Cassel offers us is a chance at 7-9 or maybe 8-8 or at best 9-7 with no likely playoff spot and a first round exit should we happen to sneak into the playoffs.

I don't think Hunt, Pioli or Crennel consider that to be "winning" and I'm damned sure the fans don't think so.

Actually winning means we are a serious playoff contender and have a real shot at going somewhere once we make the playoffs. And Cassel isn't going to do that.

So it is time to say goodbye to Cassel and give Quinn and/or Stanzi a chance to show us if they can lead a winning team. If they can't, then it's time to look in the draft or Free Agency.

I'd rather go 2-14 this year and find out once and for all that all our quarterbacks are busts than to continue to limp along at 7-9, 8-8 or 9-7 and being deluded into thinking that maybe, just maybe we have a "good enough" quarterback.

"Good Enough" isn't good enough any more. I want us to START WINNING or at least trying to. And we're not going to with Cassel.

I agree. The franchise QB must be found somewhere this coming off-season. Cassel isn't the guy to make them a post-season contender.

And Pioli has turned the Chiefs into a political zoo more so than a football team. He needs to go. He has no credentials to be a GM other than he married Bill Parcells daughter.